Today has been a fairly big day for the advancement of Charlotte NC's rail system. Today At the top of the agenda is the 9.4 mile LYNX Blue Line extension to UNCC Charlotte. Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) Received Record of Decision from the FTA allowing the project to move into final design, begin right-of-way aquisition, and apply for a full-funding agreement by the end of the month for the 1.1 billion dollar line. Full construction is planned to start in 2013. http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/cats/news/pressreleases/Pages/12122011.aspx The current LYNX Blue line received $18 million today to extend light rail platforms and to upgrade the electrical system to support three car trains. An additional 18 Seimens S70's will be ordered when the Blue line extension is funded hopefully in 2012 nearly doubling t.he current fleet of 20. The upgrades will allow for more breathing room on a system that is pushed to the max for events such as Panthers or Bobcats games. http://www.bizjournals.com/charlott...Charlotte+Queen+City+Agenda)&utm_term=#cltcc+ Older News but still Recent The Charlotte Streetcar starter project got full funding last month. The first 1.5 mile segment of an eventual 10 mile line will break ground after the DNC next September due to it running through center city and should be completed by late 2014. The LYNX Red Line, a 25 mile $450 million commuter rail line was brought back to the table in the last few weeks. The Red Line will run on Norfolk Southern's current O line to Mooresville. The project hopes to have funding in place by the end of next year with trains operating by 2017. Due to lack of funding, the rail line will both be a commuter project with residential zoning combined with zoning for future industrial sights to increase freight service. The O line today is lucky to see 1 train a day, the project will bring 20 daily commuter trains and 2-4 freight trains to the underused line. A future expansion to Satesville was also added to the long term vision along with commuter rail to Monroe and and Gastonia. http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/print-edition/2011/12/09/cooperation-is-key-to-red-line.html NCDOT has begun public hearings on the improvements to the NC railroad. Double track will be added from Charlotte to Greensboro along with grade seperation in many places. The CSX-Norfolk Southern diamond in downtown Charlotte will also be replaced as the first phase to the construction of center city Charlotte Gateway Station (Amtrak, Commuter rail, streetcar, greyhound, bus, LRT see design here- http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/...tewaystation/Documents/CGSTGViewrev062005.pdf). The planned increased usage by passenger trains (Amtrak and commuter rail) will require the seperation of the current level crossing of the CSX and NS mainlines. The CSX main will be placed in a ditch while the NS main and O line will be bridged over the ditch. The Charlotte Trolley, the non profit organization that first brought rail back to Charlotte in 1996, but was displaced when the LYNX Blue line was built in 2007, is looking at buying, with the help of a donation from Wells Fargo, a unused CSX spur near bank of America Stadium to use for heritage trolley rides. The LYNX silver line which was either going to be Light Rail or Bus rapid transit was scrapped because funding wouldn't allow for any major progress in the next 20 years with the Red line, Blue line, streetcar, and orange line (airport) all being higher priorities. Commuter rail over the CSX line between Charlotte and Monroe with less frequent service then LRT but a farther reach will be explored in place of the Silver Line. Links to Charlotte rail projects information LYNX Blue Line Extension- http://charmeck.org/CITY/CHARLOTTE/CATS/PLANNING/BLE/Pages/default.aspx LYNX Red Line- http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/cats/planning/RedLineRegionalRail/Pages/default.aspx Charlotte Streetcar- http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/cats/planning/streetcar/Pages/default.aspx Charlotte Gateway Station- http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/cats/planning/facilities/gatewaystation/Pages/default.aspx Thats the report for now, hope you enjoyed learning about these transit projects. Alex
I will post some more recent updates for anyone interested: The LYNX LRT Blue line extension from Uptown Charlotte to University of North Carolina at Charlotte has received full state funding. The FFGA with the state of North Carolina pays for 25% of the 1.1 billion dollar project. another 25% of the project is already funded via the Charlotte 1/2 cent transit tax. The state agreement paves the way to receive the final 50% from the federal government this fall. The FTA recently announced the extension is near the top of the priority list and it intends to fully fund the line starting next fiscal year. Construction will begin in mid 2013. The Blue line extension will connect to the south corridor Blue Line and run from Uptown serving the UNCC Uptown campus, the NoDa neighborhood and arts district, North Tryon street, and UNCC main campus which has 26,000 students. The extension is supposed to carry 23,000 daily riders in addition to the south corridor which currently carries 17,000 daily riders. The first 1.5 mile leg of the planned 10 mile streetcar will begin construction in December of this year. A plan is also on the books to raise property taxes in Charlotte to pay for $1 billion in infrastructure projects, and the plan includes $119 million dollars to extend the already funded 1.5 mile streetcar 2.5 miles from the Charlotte Transit Center to Johnson and Wales University and serving the central buisness district, the planned Uptown Knights AAA baseball stadium, the planned Gateway Station, and Gateway Village in between. It would also pay for an extension of the line 1 mile from the other end from Presbyterian Hospital to Central Avenue and the Plaza midwood neighborhood. NCDOT began collecting development proposal's for Charlotte Gateway Station and hopes to have a construction plan for the new multimodal/Amtrak station by the end of the year. The 25 mile LYNX Red Line commuter train, at the current pace will be severly delayed from its 2018 opening. Norfolk Southern has called the project "fatally flawed" and wants the city to do another year long study before Norfolk Southern determines if it is willing to allow commuter trains onto its rarely used (1 local freight a day) O-line to Mooresville. Norfolk Southern, Charlotte-Douglas international airport, and the city have agreed and funded a new intermodal yard at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport which will be located between the 2nd and 3rd parallel runways. The project will allow for NS to move out of its cramped Uptown North Tryon yard and move trucks off city streets. The land the current intermodal site sits on is needed for additional storage that will be needed when 20 additional LRV are purchased for the Blue line extension to UNCC and for passenger bypass tracks for NCDOT and Amtrak in order to bypass Norfolk Southerns Charlotte rail yard. The new intermodal yard will have direct access to I-485, I-85, and I-77 as well as the 4 different Norfolk Southern lines serving Charlotte and one CSX line. NCDOT has begun public hearings and grade seperation projects between Charlotte and Raleigh as well as right-of-way aquisition for full double track between Charlotte and Greensboro. A maintenance facility is to be built Uptown next to Bank of America stadium. This new facility will be near Gateway Station and allow for additional Charlotte-Raleigh Peidmont Trains and allow for additional cars to be added to the Carolinian which has been running at capacity for the last 5 years because the current facility limited the length of the train. The Peidmont is also Amtrak's 2nd fastest growing route and both the Peidmont and Carolinian are on track to become one of Amtraks few routes that actually turn a profit, if ridership levels continue both trains will be self-sustaining by the end of the 2013 fiscal year. As a side note, the Piedmont Northern reopened to service for the first time in 30 years and will be operated by Patriot Rail under the name Piedmont and Northern. Alex
